car dies/ bad smell???

[90gsx16g]

so istarted my car today and it was idleing at about 2500 then dropped to 1900 rpms.(i figure just becuase its cold) but then it dies, and i cant get it started again. but just befor it died this really bad smell started comin through my vents.. it was a bad smell. any ideas anyone???? WTF

 

[pitbull419]

Well we need a little more info than a bad smell.
What do your plugs look like?
What does your oil look like?
Check for leaks. Check your timing.
Compression test and boost leak test.
These will all be helpfull to diagnose your problem.

 

[NATAS]

Did it smell like fish ahaha? That's your ECU if it does rofl.

 

[toyotaturbo]

Sounds like the caps are leaking on your ECU. Pull your computer out and open it. If it smells like fish in there, your caps leaked and your computer is done. I've had a few friends come to me (all of them have '90 1G's, go figure) and they all had the same story as you just told. Hope I'm wrong, '90 ecu's are hard to come by these days.

 

[pitbull419]

Well if it is the ecu.And you can not find a 1990 ecu.
Here is a link on how to do the conversion to make a 91-94 ecu work correctly.

http://www.ecanfix.com/users/mdhamilton/ecuconversion.html

 

[90gsx16g]

alright well i checked for that "fish" smell and i think you guys might be right. im gonna ###### pull the ecu out tommorrow.

I just wanna say that right now it'll turn over like it wants to start but just cant quite make it, all my guages an shit work( well at least the ones that dont require the car to be started). the only warning light that comes on is the orange one that looks like the white house. what would cause the ecu to burn out ?? if it is indeed the ecu

oh and what kinda damge am i lookin at for an ecu? im perty much broke

 

[el guapo]

turn the key to the on position and see if the check engine light lights up just for a few seconds then goes out. if it doesn't your ecu is not "booting up" then take it out and see if the caps are blown if there not blown and stinking like rotten fish start checking for bad wires. sorry to say it but it sounds like you check engine light probably wont come on and your caps are probably blown. you might be able to repair it if you felt like dickin with it. there used to be a link on tmos site but it looks to be gone.my friend does have a working 90 ecu if all else fails i could try to get that one for ya. us 90 gotta stick together man

 

[steve]

what would cause the ecu to burn out?

Several things can. All electrolytic capacitors have a lifespan but two of the ones used in the ECU have defective seals around the wires that allow the electrolyte to leak out. It's corrosive and will eat copper and solder and once it drains out the capacitors can short and burn up.

All the the 1G ECUs are going to have this problem, most have already started to and the only solution is to replace the capacitors, hopefully before the ECU fails.

Another problem that can disable the ECU is the drivers of the solenoids and ISC can be damaged if the device shorts or water enters the connectors. In extreme cases the drivr can burn up the ECU board and damage other circuits causing the ECU to stop working.

turn the key to the on position and see if the check engine light lights up just for a few seconds then goes out. if it doesn't your ecu is not "booting up".

It's great to see that others are actually reading and repeating from your posts, that's why they are there.

Steve

 

[90gsx16g]

thanks alot guys, yeah i'll try and pull it out today. ( i gotta do some work for my friends mom so i can use her garage for a couple weeks). its startin to sound more and more that you guys are right though. i'll let you know whats up when i pull it out.

 

[90gsx16g]

Alright i pulled the ecu out today( which was alot easier then i expected.) and it smells like burnt plastic but i cant get the metral case off to look inside.. are there any other symptoms of a bad ecu? im gonna go and get it tested tomorrow but i am just wondering.

 

[NATAS]

Yeah sometimes those little screws are on there super tight. The bi*** of it is if you try to reef on them they strip out. I use a really small flat head and that works really well. If all else fails you can just take it in and have someone else get them off for you. Oh yeah, that spray on shit that freezes them helps a ton. GL with your ECU, but the good thing is that you've most likely found your problem. That's at least 1/2 the battle.

 

[90gsx16g]

Alright so i got the cover off and... one of the caps did indeed start leaking. it looks like a mini bomb went off at the base of the capacitor. thanks for all your help guys , but i have one last thing.. doe this mean that they will continue to blow or was this ecu just at the end of its life?